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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formally sought an explanation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after Sumair Ahmed, the Champions Trophy tournament director and PCB’s Chief Operating Officer, was excluded from the post-final presentation ceremony in Dubai on Sunday.
Ahmed, who attended the final in his capacity as tournament director and as Pakistan’s representative, was notably absent from the stage despite Pakistan being the official host of the tournament.
Controversy Over Exclusion from Ceremony
Following India’s victory over New Zealand to claim the Champions Trophy title, the presentation ceremony included four officials: ICC Chair Jay Shah, BCCI President Roger Binny, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia, and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) Director Roger Twose. However, no representative from the PCB was present.
While it is not customary for representatives of competing nations to feature in ICC post-tournament ceremonies—unless the host country is playing in the final—the PCB found it perplexing that a second BCCI official, Saikia, was included on stage instead of a PCB representative.
“The PCB was expecting Sumair Ahmed to be on stage as Pakistan’s representative in the absence of PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi,” a PCB official stated. Naqvi, who was originally scheduled to participate in the ceremony, was unable to travel due to health reasons.
Lack of ICC Communication, Says Pakistan
The PCB contends that the ICC should have reached out to confirm a replacement for Naqvi. “The responsibility was on the ICC to ensure that Pakistan, as the official host, had representation at the event,” said the PCB official.
While the PCB did not directly inform the ICC about Ahmed replacing Naqvi, the board maintains that the governing body should have initiated the discussion. “No ICC representative contacted the PCB at any point during the final to discuss the matter,” the official added.
As of now, the ICC has not responded to PCB’s request for an explanation. ESPNcricinfo has also reached out to the ICC for a comment.
Ongoing Friction Between Pakistan Cricket Board and ICC
This is the third instance during the tournament where the PCB has sought an explanation from the ICC regarding incidents it believes have undermined Pakistan’s role as the official host.
Earlier in the tournament, during India’s match against Bangladesh in Dubai, Pakistan’s name was missing from the tournament logo on the official broadcast. A day later, during the Australia-England match at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, the Indian national anthem was mistakenly played instead of Australia’s.
The PCB squarely blamed the ICC for the anthem mix-up, arguing that the governing body was responsible for the playlist and its distribution. The ICC acknowledged the mistakes, attributing the logo omission to human error and the anthem confusion to a DJ mistake, offering regrets for both incidents.
Background: Hosting Arrangements and Tensions
The Champions Trophy was originally planned to be held entirely in Pakistan, marking the country’s first ICC-hosted event since 1996. However, following the Indian government’s refusal to allow its team to travel to Pakistan, the PCB and BCCI reached a compromise. Under this arrangement, India played all their matches in Dubai, while future ICC tournaments hosted by either nation over the next three years would see the other team’s matches held at a neutral venue.
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